Abstract
African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) report on South Africa indicates a steady improvement in the different areas. This improvement is also apparent in the promotion of the rights of women. The country has enacted several legislations to uphold women’s equality and protection. It has used different instruments to implement these legislations with different degrees of success. This chapter looks at the progress made on the APRM 2021 report compared to the previous report on the development of women’s representation in government and economy, poverty alleviation and access to dignified living, and gender-based violence. The chapter delves into the developments made to address gender-based violence, since there was a significant uptick during the Covid-19 pandemic. Government reports, Stats SÁ, and other publications were used to source data for the chapter. The conclusion is that despite the significant progress that has been made in this area, women need to be represented more in the higher position of the economy, still lack access to services, and encounter biased accessing opportunities, and face unacceptably high levels of gender-based violence and femicide. A concerted effort is required to address these issues in government, the private sector, and society.
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Okbandrias, M.A. (2023). An Assessment of Government Commitment to the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights in South Africa. In: Ile, I., Fagbadebo, O. (eds) Democracy and Political Governance in South Africa. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16313-5_10
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